IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE)

e-ISSN: 2278-1684,p-ISSN: 2320-334X, Volume 11, Issue 6 Ver. III (Nov- Dec. 2014), PP 38-41
www.iosrjournals.org

Aluminum Composite with Fly Ash – A Review

Muruganandhan.P1, Dr.Eswaramoorthi.M2
1
Student, Nandha Engineering College
2
Professor, Nandha Engineering College

Abstract: In our present stage, metal matrix composite is more acceptable because they are suitable for
applications requiring combined strength and thermal conductivity, damping properties, lower density. The
properties of MMCs enhance their usage in automotive and many applications. In the field of automobile,
MMCs are used for pistons, brake drum, cylinder block because of better corrosion resistance and wear
resistance. Fly ash is used as the reinforcement to produce the composite by stir casting. Fly ash is chosen
because of it is least expensive and low density reinforcement available in large quantities as solid waste by-
product during combustion of coal in thermal power plants. Due to low weight it can be applied in automobile
and thus improving its life. The review reveals that increase in mechanical properties up to 20% of fly ash in the
matrix material. But the corrosion resistance decreases with the fly ash addition.
Keywords: Metal matrix composite, fly ash, stir casting, aluminum alloy

I. Introduction
Metal composite materials have found application in many areas of day to day life for quite some time.
In traffic engineering, especially in the automotive industry, MMCs have been used commercially in fibre
reinforced pistons and aluminum crank cases with strengthened cylinder surfaces as well as particle-
strengthened brake disks.Aluminium is a chemical element in the boron group with symbol Al and atomic
number is 13. It is silvery white, and it is insoluble in water under normal circumstances. Aluminium alloys are
alloys in which aluminium (Al) is the strongest metal. The typical alloying elements are silicon and zinc. There
are two divisions, namely casting alloys and wrought alloys. Fly ash is one of the residues generated in the
combustion of coal. It is an industrial by-product recovered from the flue gas of coal burning electric power
plants. Based on the source and makeup of the coal being burned, the fly ash components produced changes
considerably. In general, fly ash contains Fe2O3, Al2O3, SiO2, as major proportion and oxides of Ca, Na, Mg
etc., as minor proportion. Fly ash particles are mostly spherical in shape and range from less than 1 μm to 100
μm with a upper area, between 250 and 600 m 2/kg. The specific gravity varies between 0.6-2.8 g/cc. Physical
properties of fly ash mainly depend on the type of coal burned and the conditions of burning. Class F type fly
ash is produced from burning high rank (containing high carbon content) coals such as anthracite and
bituminous coals, whereas, Class C fly ash is produced from low rank coals.

II. Literature Review

Anil et al. [1] investigated the mechanical properties like compressive strength, ductility, and hardness
by using aluminium fly ash composites. By increasing the weight fraction of the fly ash particles the above
mentioned properties gets improved. Different composition needed to be added in the fly ash composites to
enhance their properties further.
Vivekanandan et al. [2] have fabricated the aluminium fly ash composite by stir casting process. The
addition of fly ash acts as a barrier to the movement of dislocations and there by increases the hardness of the
composite. And also by adding fly ash to the aluminium in molten state increases the abrasive wear resistance.
This strengthening of the composite is because of the solid solution strengthening, dispersion strengthening and
particle reinforcement.
Garg et al. [3] have prepared a composite by using aluminium 6061 as the matrix and SiC, fly ash as
the matrix material. The composite is produced by stir casting technique in which the weight fraction of the
silicon carbide is varied (from 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%. 10%) by fixing the fly ash weight fraction (5%). From the
analysis it is clear that by increasing the weight fraction of SiC the tensile strength and hardness of the
composite gets improved.
Prasad et al. [4] have investigated the mechanical properties of hardness and wear rate by using
different casting techniques .In this, al –fly ash with 7.5% weight fraction has high hardness and wear rate when
compared to the aluminium alloy produced by squeeze casting and gravity casting. And also the sample
produced in this gravity casting has low hardness and high wear rate.
Prasad et al.[5] have used eutectic -Al -Si -alloy as a matrix material with increasing fly ash (in wt. %)
as a reinforcement and prepared a composite using squeeze casting by applying pressure .By increasing the

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 Aluminum Composite with Fly Ash – A Review

weight percentage of fly ash the sliding wear resistance of the composite gets improved. And also by employing
squeeze casting the porosity in composite has been removed.
Anandhamoorthy et al. [6] have produced al/fly ash/graphite metal matrix composite using stir casting
by fixing wt % of graphite (3%) and varying the composition of fly ash (3 to 9%). It has been observed that the
sliding wear rate depends on the load. And also the hardness of the hybrid metal matrix composite is more when
compared to Al 6061.Mahendra et al.
Mahendra et al. [7] fabricated the metal matrix composite by using al-4.5% cu as the matrix material
and fly ash with varying weight fraction (5 to 15%) as the reinforcement material. The composite is produced by
stir casting method in which the impact strength, compressive strength, tensile strength and hardness increases
with increase in fly ash content. But the density and corrosion resistance decreases.
Bienias et al. [8] investigated the pitting corrosion behavior and corrosion kinetics of Al alloy. In this
method, they have used AK12 as the matrix material and fly ash as the reinforcement to produce the composite
by gravity casting and squeeze casting. Fly ash particles lead to an enhanced pitting corrosion of the AK12/9%
fly ash composite in comparison with unreinforced matrix.
Motgi et al. [9] have used LM25 aluminium alloy as the matrix material and constant weight fraction of
fly ash (3%) with varying weight fraction of aluminium oxide (5%,10%,15%) as the reinforcement to produce
the composite by stir casting. By analyzing this sample, the tensile strength and hardness gets increased with
increase in % wt of aluminium oxide. But the major issue is the ductility and impact strength gets reduced.
Arunkumar et al. [10] have chosen al6061 alloy as the matrix material and 2 to 8wt% of fly ash with 2
and 6wt% of e-glass fibre as the reinforcement to produce the composite by stir casting. The hardness, tensile
strength and compressive strength increases as the wt % of fly ash increases. And also the samples were tested
using ultrasonic flow detector to identify the defects.
Umashankar et al. [11] have opted Al6061 alloy as the matrix and bottom ash as the reinforcement to
produce the composite by stir casting. Micro hardness and tensile strength of the composite increases with
increase in wt% of bottom ash particles. But the problem is, after 9% wt of bottom ash the tensile strength and
micro hardness decreases.
Uthayakumar et al. [12] have used aluminium alloy 6351 as the matrix material and fly ash with weight
percentage (5 to 15%) as the reinforcement to produce the composite by stir casting. From the result it is clear
that the composite does not wear at low loads. And the result shows that the applied load has the greatest effect
on dry sliding wear.
Bharat et al. [13] have utilized eutectic Al-Si-alloy LM6 containing 12.2491% Si as the matrix and the
cenosphere of two different types (fly ash type- A and type -B) as the reinforcement to produce the composite
by stir casting. The micro hardness, tensile strength, impact strength and hardness were higher for type-B fly ash
because of its micro structural differences and presence of small amount of carbon.
Sreenivasareddy et al. [14] have opted Al 7075 alloy as the matrix material and e-glass fibre with fly
ash by varying the weight percentage to produce the composite .The hardness and tensile strength of the heat
treated specimen is higher when compared to the cast specimen. The percentage of e-glass fibre and fly ash can
be varied to enhance the mechanical properties further.
Anilkumar et al. [15] have chosen Al 6061 alloy as the matrix material and fly ash with varying weight
percentage (10%, 15%, 20%) with particle size [of 4-25, 45-50, 75-100 μm] as the reinforcement to produce the
composite by stir casting. By analyzing the sample, the hardness, tensile strength, compressive strength
increases with increase in weight fraction of fly ash.
Mani et al. [16] have investigated the hardness, tensile strength, and the wear resistance of the
composite by suitable testing methods. They have used AL 6063 as the matrix material with fly ash as the
reinforcement to produce the composite by stir casting. From the analysis it is clear that the tensile strength,
hardness and wear resistance increases with the incorporation of fly ash
Prabhu et al. [17] have utilized aluminium as the matrix material and fly ash as the reinforcement to
produce the composite by stir casting. The electro chemical machining is used to find out the minimum overcut
and optimum metal removal rate. From the result, the hardness of al-fly ash increases with increase in addition
of fly ash.
Lokesh et al. [18] have investigated the tensile, compressive, hardness and impact properties of the
base alloy as well as the composite by stir, squeeze and gravity casting. In this the weight fraction of fly ash is
varied from 3% to12% which increases the above properties. The base alloy prepared by squeeze casting has
lower porosity when compared to the base alloy prepared by gravity casting.
Prashant Kumar Suragimath et al. [19] carried out the mechanical properties of Aluminium alloy
(LM6) reinforced with SiC and fly ash to find that the wear resistance tends to raise with addition of Fly Ash in
LM6/SiC Hybrid composite.
Selvi et al. [20] investigated the mechanical properties of AL MMCs theoretically and experimentally
and also concluded that the fly ash particles improve the wear resistance of the Al MMC and the presence of

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 Aluminum Composite with Fly Ash – A Review

SiO2 in fly ash increase wear resistance of Al MMC and that changes of wear rates are observed in the sliding
wear test.

Shanmughasundaram et al. [21] Revealed that by adding fly ash particles the compressive strength
gets improved. Compressive Strength of the composites tends to drop when the fly ash content is raised from 20
% to 25 wt%. But beyond20 wt%, the fly ash particles interact with each other due to clustering of particles
which reduces the strength.
Prabhakar Kammer et al. [22] Carried experimental investigation of Al7075 with Fly ash & Eglass
fibers. The metal matrix composite is produced by stir casting. The e glass fibre percentage is fixed as 1% with
varying fly ash (2 to 8%) Compression strength and tensile strength tends to improve when compared to Al
7075 alloy.
Mahendra Boopathi et al. [23] Mentioned a increase in hardness was observed with increase in weight
fraction of SiC & fly ash. Maximum hardness is observed at Al/ (10%SiC+10%fly ash). Incorporation of fly ash
particles improves the hardness and also the deformation of the Al matrix. It is observed that the fact that the
combination of SiC with fly ash particles possess higher hardness than the aluminum alloy.
Shivaprasad et al. [24] have used the aluminium alloy AA2024 as the matrix material and fly ash as
the reinforcement with 10% weight fraction, the composite is produced by stir casting. The hat treated
AA2024+10% fly ash composite has improved were characteristics when compared to non-hate treated ones.
The specific wear rate for water cooled condition is low when compared to air cooled condition.
Arun et al. [25] investigated the characteristics of aluminium –fly ash – alumina composite with the stir
casting process .Al 6061 is chosen as the matrix material and fly ash as the reinforcement. The reinforcement
particulates are equally distributed in Al6061 alloys which is shown in SEM analyses .

III. Conclusion
This paper reviews that the metal matrix composites are very much useful in automobile. Fly ash plays
a key role in enhancing the mechanical property. The previous result shows 10 to 20% increase in mechanical
properties. The tensile strength, compression strength and hardness get improved by adding fly ash. The usage
of aluminum can be minimized by enforcing the fly ash. SEM analysis is done to know the distribution of fly
ash with the composite.

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